Insects are essential for the planet as decomposers, soil aerators, sources of food, pest controllers and more, and author Cheryl Robertson and illustrator Greg Mandy want to impress this fact upon children.
The aim of their rather unusual nonfiction paperback entitled Goggas: A collection of captivating creepy crawlies is to encourage, coax, shock and amuse children into caring about the creatures on the lower end of the food chain, and to acknowledge the vital roles that they play.
Robertson writes about insects found all over the world, including some that live only in sub-Saharan Africa. The book balances hard facts with fun rhymes, gives the common names, the names in the Zimbabwean languages of Shona and Ndebele (she was born in Zimbabwe so this was where she first came across insects in their masses) and the biological classifications of each creepy crawly, accompanied by quirky illustrations Greg Mandy (her son) created while he was growing up.
He was one of those rare kids enthralled by insects so searched for, sometimes caught but always drew anything that crept and crawled. Robertson kept the drawings he created from the age of three until 15 and used them to illustrate this book.
Mandy – now 30 and a photographer and videographer in the UK– also created the cover.
Leo Braak, who lived and worked in Kruger National Park and who is now Medical Entomologist and Professor at the Malaria Consortium in Bangkok, Thailand, comments within the book: ‘A delightful and heart-warming introduction to our micro-denizen compatriots which so richly populate our planet and contribute to our well-being in so many ways. Fun to read!’
On the blurb of the book’s back cover, Jeffrey A. Lockwood, Professor of Natural Sciences & Humanities at the University of Wyoming, USA, writes: ‘These are very engaging, entertaining and cleverly informative poems! The humor is lovely, the science is intriguing, and the sense of futility about our controlling the insect world is spot on! The children’s artwork was absolutely enchanting. I can see where this would engage young readers with a sense that their art is taken seriously—as it should be.’
Goggas: A collection of captivating creepy crawlies is available online in South Africa at Takealot https://www.takealot.com/goggas-a-collection-of-captivating-creepy-crawlies/PLID71237434
Picture: Pexels
